Control of microfabricated structures powered by flagellated bacteria using phototaxis

Abstract

Flagellated bacteria have been employed as microactuators in low Reynolds number fluidic environments. SU-8 microstructures have been fabricated and released on the surface of swarming Serratia marcescens, and the flagella propel the structures along the swarm surface. Phototactic control of these structures is demonstrated by exposing the localized regions of the swarm to ultraviolet light. The authors additionally discuss the control of microstructures in an open channel powered by bacteria which have been docked through a blotting technique. A tracking algorithm has been developed to analyze swarming patterns of the bacteria as well as the kinematics of the microstructures.

Fabrication of nanocomposites and hybrid materials using microbial biotemplates

“…Without stimuli, the system moved randomly, but the phototactic response of the bacterial cell toward the source of UV light was exploited to induce the turn on/off control of the system. Compared to chemotactic control, the phototactic control is more useful and advantageous; for example, bacterial cell response is instant and consistent in the entire exposure region and the stimulus can be easily removed without disturbing the fluidic, as it is commonly produced by the refreshing chemicals in chemotactic control [44].…”

“…The native environment for microorganism survival is dynamic and complex. Microorganisms can respond to changes in temperature [41], concentration of food molecules [42], surface softness [43], light [44], magnetic [45], or electric stimuli [46] (Fig. 2), by directing their motion to find a favorable environment.…”

Some Prospective Elements of a Nanofactory

“…Inspired by the motion of spermatozoa, Dreyfus et al developed a microswimmer consisting of a thin paramagnetic filament that attached itself to a blood cell. By applying an oscillating magnetic field the swimmer propelled the cell through continuous deformation of the filament in a manner somewhat similar to a eukaryotic flagellum [10,11,16,17,18,19,20,21,22].…”

Modeling of chemotactic steering of bacteria-based microrobot using a population-scale approach

“…[5][6][7] However, for elevated directionality, researchers have employed the intrinsic characteristics of bacteria, including chemotaxis, 4,8,9 magnetotaxis, 2,10-12 galvanotaxis, 13 and phototaxis. 14 These taxes of bacteria also correspond to external stimuli, such as chemical attractants, electromagnetic actuation, electrophoresis systems, and ultraviolet light, respectively. Therefore, the bacteriobot can be considered to be the phoretic microrobot mentioned by Golestanian because of its bacterial phoresis properties.…”